President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden opened a
national conference on mental health Monday, hoping to start a national conversation about and greater awareness of mental health issues.
More than 60 percent of Americans with mental illness do not receive treatment, many of them because they are embarrassed or afraid of being ostracized, Obama said, speaking at a White House conference on mental health.
"We wouldn't accept it if only 40 percent of Americans with cancers got treatment," Obama said. "So why should we accept it when it comes to mental health?"
Obama promised to start a "national conversation" on mental health after the shooting deaths of 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut school last year, although he did not mention the tragedy in his remarks on Monday.
Health insurers will no longer be able to use mental illness, like any other pre-existing condition, to deny coverage to any individual. Greater access to insurance should provide some benefit to people suffering with mental illness, but the stigma attached to these diseases could still prevent sufferers from seeking treatment. You don't need to look further to find that stigma still exists than conservative reaction
represented by the Daily Caller to Obama's efforts. Yes, there are still people who insist depression isn't a "real" illness.
That's the attitude that needs to be overcome. The administration has enlisted the media, educators, health care providers, faith communities, and foundations in the effort to bring mental illness out of the dark.
Some examples of these commitments are as follows: The National Association of Broadcasters, made up of local television and radio stations across the country and the broadcast networks, is developing a national public awareness campaign to reduce negative attitudes and perceptions about mental illness through television and radio ads, and social media. A number of organizations that work with young people are making new commitments—from secondary school principals across the country holding assemblies on mental health awareness to the YMCA teaching its staff and summer camp counselors to recognize the signs of depression and other mental health issues in kids. A diverse group of communities of faith have committed to launch new conversations about mental health in our houses of worship. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Medical professionals, foundations, technology companies and many others are launching new efforts that will make a difference.
Of course, because this is an effort spearheaded by Obama, all those conservatives who after Newtown said the answer to gun violence is more mental health treatment will now join with the
Daily Caller in calling this just another huge government program.